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GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • VOLUME 25, EXPRESS 19 • 25 BY KYLE CHARTERS KCharters@GoldandBlack.com R ob Ninkovich celebrated his birthday in style. The former Boilermaker helped his New England Patriots to a 28-24 victory over Seattle in the Super Bowl Sunday evening in Ari- zona as he turned 31 years old. And the defensive end had a big day, with six tackles and a sack, a third-down takedown of Seahawks' QB Russell Wilson that aided in New England's second- half comeback. For Ninkovich, who bounced around the NFL before settling and becoming a standout in New Eng- land, the Super Bowl ring is his first. "Really, having the opportu- nity is huge," Ninkovich told WKYC. com before the game. "For me, it's capitalizing on another great op- portunity. We work very hard to get to this point, so we've just got to go out there and play well in all three phrases. "I'm just trying to capitalize on my opportunity. … It's a hard road to get here, and I'm excited to be here, excited to have another op- portunity and go out there and fly around on my teammates." Ninkovich becomes the 13th Boilermaker in the last 16 years to earn a Super Bowl ring, after Cliff Avril did so a year ago. But Avril, a Seattle defensive end, failed in his bid for a second consecutive title. And it didn't turn out to be a good day for him, either. Avril had to leave the game in the third quar- ter after suffering a concussion. He spent the rest of the game in the locker room after taking a vicious hit and briefly being motionless on the field. He did get up and walk off under his own power. Ninkovich has taken a long journey to Super Bowl champion, starting out at a junior college be- fore his two years at Purdue. Then, he his stints in New Orleans and Miami in the NFL were marred by injuries, before getting a last- chance shot with the Patriots. But he feels his time with the Boilermakers was critical to his de- velopment. "It wasn't a very long stay (at Purdue)," Ninkovich told WKYC. com. "It would have been nice to have been there four years and had more time there. Again, it was kind of a stepping stone for me. I had to go there and play for two sea- sons and move on. It was a great school. I had a great time there, a lot of great relationships. I'm just grateful that I was able to be a part of the defensive end history there because there's a lot of it." BREES, BECKHAM SET RECORD Drew Brees now owns a record of a different sort. The New Orleans quarterback helped New York Giants' receiver Odell Beckham Jr. set a record for number of one-handed catches in a minute, completing 33 on ESPN on Friday. "He was throwing them per fect," Beckham said afterward. The record, verified by Guin - ness, is new, but had several crite- ria: The balls had to travel at least 10 yards and the duo had to get to at least 10 in the 60 seconds. But they far exceeded that. Brees' accuracy was a big rea- TWIN CITY DODGE P R E S E N TS : B O I L E R M A K E R S I N T H E N F L Ninkovich Wins Ring New England Patriots New England defensive end Rob Ninkovich won his first Super Bowl ring Sunday.